# Cabinet Humidor Fan Placement



## user8172735 (Nov 27, 2012)

Hi there. This is my first new post (first post went to advising re: Illusione picks), so welcome me. 

I have a cabinet humidor that's 48" W x 16" D x 76" H. It's all Spanish Cedar on the inside. I use a Moiste-n-Aire to keep relative humidity in check but the problem is that it's uneven.

The Moiste-n-Aire used to be placed on the bottom shelf (since H2O is less dense than O2) because I figured the humidity would rise throughout. It wasn't working correctly, so I finally moved the unit to the very top shelf. It seemed to improve at first, but it's now lapsed into unevenness throughout the cabinet. I have two digital hygrometers inside and at times the disparity will be 3% RH (68% vs 71%), and other times it will be even greater.

At this point, I'm thinking a small fan will do the trick. I think some air movement will do a lot to even out the RH.

My questions are:

1. Where is the best placement for the fan, and 
2. What size should it be (or, perhaps, how much air should it move)?

Thanks!


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## penguinshockey (Aug 31, 2010)

I use 2 12VDC PC fans attached to the bottom of each side of the middle-most shelf. One blows upward and the other downward to create a circular air rotation. You might try the same keeping your Moist-n-aire on the bottom. My fans turn on when my humidification system turns on.


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## user8172735 (Nov 27, 2012)

The two-fan setup like that is brilliant. Of course that's how it ought to be done!

I'm not equipped with the expertise to wire the fans up to automatically turn on with the Moist-n-Aire, so my hope is that some low-power fans running continuously walks the line between drying out the inside and keeping the air circulating.

Any other folks with a cabinet humidor setup care to chime in?


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## exprime8 (May 16, 2011)

a few Oust fans spread out


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## user8172735 (Nov 27, 2012)

Hi again. I apologize in advance if resurrecting a 6-month old thread such as this is poor form, but I wanted to report my experience.

About 5 months ago, I purchased four 120mm computer-case fans, power wires, and a 4-pin to DC adapter to power them. I positioned two on the left blowing air upwards, and two on the right blowing air downwards. All four fans are on *flat* shelves, even though many other shelves are tilted for display purposes. I have the Moist-n-Aire sitting on the bottom shelf of the cabinet.

In this setup, the humidity is spread fairly evenly. It's about 1% RH lower on the very top than elsewhere, likewise for temperature (about 1 degree F lower on the top than the middle or bottom, to my surprise).

The biggest advice I would give at this point is that, given that you own a large cabinet humidor, you make sure it is well-stocked. If you're 50% or more stocked, then you should be in good shape. The cigars themselves will do much to moderate fluctuations in temperature and (more influentially) humidity.

At the start of this, I made sure not to block the airflow of the fans, but as my inventory rose, I kept stepping on this self-imposed rule and found that (with the percentage-occupied increasing) it didn't matter so much. The room has a window air conditioner installed for the summer months and set to 67 deg F on "Energy Saver" mode. At this point, my cigars are in a very stable, 70/70 condition.

Last note which is not directly related is that I've been all over the map over the years in terms of temperature/humidity. For a long time I preferred 67/67, but, for my personal tastes, keeping things at the standard-hawked 70/70 suits me just fine and I have noticed no degredation from other preferences. Good smokes, and good luck to those who follow.


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